Linkin Park Prep New LP, Tupac Update + More

Plus: Janelle Monae working on "jamming" new album, Kanye West says "Mama's Boy" leak is "bogus" and "unsanctioned."

Linkin Park have begun work on their fifth album — the group’s follow-up to 2010’s A Thousand Suns — and singer Chester Bennington promises it will be a “polarizing” collection, tackling politics and other “serious issues.” “There aren’t a whole lot of noises going on, but there are a lot of good songs,” he says. “It will probably get a very polarized reaction. Which pleases me. As an artist, I want a reaction… We’ve learned how to write serious songs and serious lyrics. We’ve learned how to deal with politics, faith and other things.” [Kerrang!, via NME]

The New York Police Department are re-investigating a 1994 shooting of Tupac Shakur, following a report published yesterday by AllHipHop, where Dexter Isaac, a convicted felon currently serving a life sentence in a Brooklyn jail, admitted to gunning down the rapper in Manhattan. That incident caused Tupac to blame Notorious B.I.G. for the shooting, which led to a falling out between the two and ignited the notorious East Coast/West Coast rap feud of the ’90s. (Shakur was murdered in 1996.) NYPD spokesman Paul Brown said if they determine AllHipHop’s post to be legitimate, they will interview the prisoner, although the statue of limitations has expired, meaning he cannot be formally tried for the crime. [Billboard]

Janelle Monáe has begun work on her follow-up to her sci-fi R&B opus The ArchAndroid — and the singer says it will be far more ambitious than her 2010 breakthrough. “This album will have very strong concepts and bigger ideas and the music will just go forward to another level,” she said. “But it will be jamming. I will say that much. It’s gonna be jamming.” [MTV]

According to a statement from Kanye West’s label, Universal, the version of the rapper’s track “Mama’s Boy” that leaked earlier this week is “bogus” and “unsanctioned.” “[The track] in no way resembles the final song Kanye West intended his fans to hear, and he is deeply disappointed that one of the most personal, meaningful, and special songs he has ever written would reach people in this way,” the statement reads.

Broken Social Scene, Death From Above 1979, Explosions in the Sky, the Descendents, No Age, Cold War Kids, and more will headline this year’s Fuck Yeah Fest in Los Angeles, CA. Girls, Dan Deacon, Simian Mobile Disco, and the Head and the Heart will also perform at the event, which takes place September 3. Tickets go on sale June 17. [Fuck Yeah Fest]

Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah have released the first track from their September 20 record Hysterical. Download the string-soaked, new wave-y anthem “Same Mistake” from the widget below.

Trip-hop pioneers Portishead performed their first show since 2008 this week in the Netherlands. Check out footage of two tracks — “Glory Box” and “Machine Gun” — below (via Consequence of Sound).

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Alessandro Cortini tends to surround himself with darkness. The Italian producer is most infamous as a torturer of modular synths and other bleak electronics for Los Angeles’ most famous industrial-goths, Nine Inch Nails. His previous solo LP, Sonno, slinked out on Prurient’s Hospital Productions — a bastion of the crepuscular, if there ever was one. And… More »